loischanel's reviews
312 reviews

Revolting Prostitutes: The Fight for Sex Workers' Rights by Molly Smith, Juno Mac

challenging informative tense slow-paced

4.0

Revolting Prostitutes is an unswerving, staunchly worded books that opposes patriarchal labour and policing law, expressing how these forces actively harm sex workers across the world today.

Content Warnings

Ace: What Asexuality Reveals about Desire, Society, and the Meaning of Sex by Angela Chen

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informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

Ace is a clear-sighted collection of essays that explores the plurality of asexuality in a sex obsessed society.

Sweethand by N.G. Peltier

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 63%.

this book is fun and vibesy but it wasn't engaging enough.

Feminism, Interrupted: Disrupting Power by Lola Olufemi

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challenging informative inspiring medium-paced

5.0

Feminism, Interrupted explores how vast feminism as an ideology is and adopts a fiercely intersectional approach to discourse about art, trans lives, sex workers, creativity and so much more.

It argues the case for a feminism that is so radical, it is unsettling, but in a good way. This book will make you question all the manifestations of social organising that we've all just come to accept as normal and turn it completely on its head.

I love the way this book discusses the theory of collectivism. It is poignantly summarised in this quote by Neha Shah, an anti-racist activist; "...𝐟𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐦 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥; 𝐰𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧'𝐭 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐩 𝐢𝐟 𝐰𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐚𝐭 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬."

The Mermaid of Black Conch by Monique Roffey

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A tragic magical realism love story; it was unsettling but fascinatingly deep.

Content Warnings

The Boyfriend Project by Farrah Rochon

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

A corporate-style romance that's equally as cushy and swoonworthy.
The business professional verbiage was laid on a bit thick which was off-putting but I loved the push-and-pull dynamic between Samiah and Daniel.

A Song of Wraiths and Ruin by Roseanne A. Brown

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

An African-inspired, high stakes, vibrant fantasy novel. A Song Of Wraiths and Ruin is a brilliant, fast-paced debut and a beautifully woven story. It was a enchanting mix of adventure, sorcery, legend and romance. Loved it and excited for the sequel!

Content Warnings

Being Hospitable by Meka James

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hopeful lighthearted relaxing tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

Would've been 4 stars but this book was far too short and lacked in actual storytelling or development. It was essentially a 60-page porno. Everything about the characters' lives i.e. Charley's internship, Kiki's job, Kenneth's obsessiveness wasn't explored to their fullest potential. This book is mainly about the sex and can be easily read in one-sitting. I'd give it 5 stars for the fan service alone but the critic in me wishes there was a better attempt at actually crafting a fully developed narrative.

Luster by Raven Leilani

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challenging dark funny hopeful reflective

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This book makes some really interesting observations about human interaction and thought. It seemed both overly gratuitous and oddly mundane. It is an unflinching book about a young black woman's life in the face of social disparity and constant hookups. Her only distractions are painting and her obsession with a much older man. There's a lot of tension between the three main characters in this odd cohabitation. It's perversely page-turning.

Content Warnings

The Reason I Jump: one boy's voice from the silence of autism by Naoki Higashida

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emotional hopeful inspiring sad fast-paced

2.5

written from the thirteen-year-old perspective of a non verbal autistic boy, The Reason I Jump is a short memoir about Higashida’s experiences. It does homogenize the autistic experience without recognizing the complex diversity of the condition (which is bad as it reinforces negative stereotyping) and there is a lot of emphasis on identifying as person with autism rather than autistic person but it does provide insight into the mind of a non verbal autistic person who are rarely ever given the tools they need to be able to communicate. This memoir shows that for many non-verbal autistic people, there is a lot they want to communicate and they do enjoy human interaction but because they can’t verbally say this many people are quick to assume otherwise.

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loischanel's reviews 312 reviews

loischanel's reviews
312 reviews